Outfield Depth Equals an Inevitable Trade for Padres
Credit: USA Today Sports
With several men who are more than capable of being major league regulars in the outfield, a trade is indeed coming for the San Diego Padres.
The time is coming and it is approaching extremely fast.
With more than seven men who have already proven themselves at the major league level in the outfield, the San Diego Padres must make a move. They must trade an outfielder. It should happen relatively soon.
Franmil Reyes, Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, Josh Naylor, Franchy Cordero, and Travis Jankowski will all require playing time at Petco Park. Cordero is presently in Triple-A and looks fully healthy from an elbow injury that sidelined him early in the 2019 season. Jankowski is scheduled to go to Arizona this coming week and begin baseball activities after suffering a broken wrist in the spring. There is hope “Freddy” will be ready sometime around the All-Star break.
Josh Naylor has stepped in and played well in his time with the Padres. So well, that he has thrust his name into the outfield platoon. Currently, Myers, Renfroe, Reyes, Margot, and Naylor are rotating in the outfield. Both Franmil Reyes and Hunter Renfroe are having terrific offensive years so far and that further complicates the situation. They should both be in the lineup each day, but Andy Green is finding it impossible to accommodate each slugging outfielder.
Something has to give. A.J. Preller must make a move.
Alex Dickerson was DFA’d and dealt early this week to the San Francisco Giants for a minor league pitcher. That signifies the trading season has started for the Padres. The team has had two full months to evaluate talent and make assumptions on what needs to improve for the Padres. Yes, the team desires starting pitching. More specifically, top of the order veteran pitchers who can eat innings.
Currently, every member of the Padres rotation has some sort of innings limitation on them. The Padres will have a very hard time finding pitchers in August and September at the current pace they are on. The bullpen is also being damaged by the starting pitchers inability to go deep into games. This is a recipe that equals disaster. The Padres must address this issue, or it is going to be a long summer in San Diego. Dealing an outfielder to address this issue seems like the likely scenario.
Who will it be? There is no easy answer. We will have to wait and see what the Padres do in the coming weeks.
One thing we know for sure. Something must give with all the talent in the outfield.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
Jankowski is not good. He is fast and is a defender, but he can’t hit his weight. He’s like Kinsler but a little faster. He needs to be in AAA or he needs to go, he is a wasted roster spot. Green hates Renfroe for some reason so he is probibly begging AJ to trade him.
Why keep Myers and Margot, Jankowski is excellent defensively and would make an excellent #2 left hand hitter behind Tatis. Cordero, another left hand bat, could emerge but still unproven.Myers salary a problem, might have to package him with Yates or eat part of his salary.I agree with Daniel ,Renfroe and Reyes have earned their spots.
It is obvious to all Padre fans that Wil Myers is a wasted roster spot. He should be sitting on the bench. That way, when he pinch hits he will only strike out once as opposed to three times a game. We have too many talented outfielders to continue to let Myers start every game and play all nine innings. His fielding is atrocious. Two poor plays yesterday and last week he let a ball skip off the top of the wall for a homer. Preller’s Folly should be added to the James Shield pile.
Pay someone to take him !
Paul, not disagreeing, but would you rather have Myers and his iffy glove or Margot and his black hole bat? At least Myers hits a little. He’s been an above average hitter most of his career, and even now has a 99 wRC+ going, whereas Margot is hitting almost not at all.
James, what has Naylor and Cordero actually done so far? Does defense matter at all?
Myers has stunted the growth of ALL our young OF for the last 2 years. His failed attempt to hold down 1B with his terrible defense declining offense in 2017 that forced a move to bring in Hosmer.
We have TWO Legit OF on a winning team in Reyes and Renfroe, still waiting for anyone else to step up for more than a week or two.
It would seem there are 3 clear trade scenarios:
1) trade to clear payroll. This is Wil Myers. Not a bad player, but if the team wishes to add a starter they might feel the need to reduce payroll elsewhere. Myers is the only player this applies to.
2) cash in on peak value. Hunter Renfroe. Yes he’s hit for good power. But his .238 batting average and .290 on base percentage will not cut it. He is a decent regular, if another team is willing to pay as if he is better than that, the club should jump at it.
3) giving up on a player. Manuel Margot. With Jankowski coming back, Cordero and Myers both able to play CF, there is going to be less of an opportunity. His wRC+ of 57 is brutal. This was going to be his make or break year, and he has been awful. Still only 24, he might still have some potential, which means there will be some trade interest, but it might be time to move on.
Renfroe and Reyes have earned the LF and RF spots ———- period, neither one should be traded until someone emerges that is better than either one. The current setup of Myers in CF works for now with Margot as the late innings backup. Once Cordero gets his strikeout whiff rate under control than Margot is the odd man out. One Jank is rehabbed, then Naylor goes back to AAA. I most definitely would not trade a potential 40 home run player just to clear a made up issue of a crowded outfield. Unless Cordero can emerge like Reyes did last year, the Padres only have 3 bonafide starting Outfielders and an argument can be made that Reyes is a DH. I would keep Reyes until the NL gets the DH. Trade bait could be Naylor or Margot.